West Chicago teens charged with strangling, stabbing, running over, and burning another teenager

Two West Chicago teens are charged with the gruesome murder of an 18-year-old. The victim had been strangled, stabbed, run over by a vehicle, and set on fire, authorities said. (Image source: Video screenshot)

West Chicago firefighters made a gruesome discovery in a field during a training exercise earlier this week, the Daily Herald reported.

They found the body of 18-year-old Luis Guerrero on Tuesday near Wheaton, Illinois. Guerrero had been strangled, stabbed, run over by a vehicle, and set on fire, authorities said at a news conference Thursday.

"The vicious brutality allegedly displayed by the defendants in this case is beyond imagination. I can’t begin to fathom the pain that Mr. Guerrero must have endured as his life was brutally taken from him. I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to Mr. Guerrero’s surviving family and friends on the loss of Mr. Guerrero,” DuPage County prosecutor Robert Berlin said at the news conference.

Authorities charged two teen suspects with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and concealment of a homicidal death, according to a news release. A third suspect has been charged with concealment of homicidal death.

What's the story?

On Tuesday, Francisco Alvarado, 18, and Tia Brewer, 16, allegedly met Guerrero near the West Chicago Public Library. Brewer was a former girlfriend of the victim, according to authorities.

Alvarado allegedly came up from behind Guerrero and strangled him with a belt. At about the same time, both Alvarado and Brewer stabbed the teen numerous times in the neck and back, Berlin said at the news conference.

Brewer and Alvarado told police they are dating each other.

At that point, authorities believe the pair placed Guerrero into their Jeep Cherokee and drove to a field. Then they contacted the third suspect, Jesus Correa, 18, and asked him to bring them some gasoline.

Correa allegedly brought the gasoline and left the scene. The pair then doused Guerrero in gasoline and set him on fire.

Guerrero reportedly got up and tried to run away, but Alvarado and Brewer got in the jeep and ran over him with the vehicle. They allegedly drug his body back to a fire pit where they lit his body on fire again and put a picnic table on top of him, according to the news release.

How did the police find the suspects?

Family members of one of the suspects alerted police with information that led them to a motel where Alvarado and Brewer were hiding and preparing to flee, according to officials.

Police found the murder weapons in the motel with the suspects.

What else?

The suspects told Correa that the murder had been planned, according to statements made to the police, Berlin said.

Brewer claimed she had been previously sexually assaulted by Guerrero and this was "payback," WBBM-TV reported, but the state's attorney found no records of a complaint.